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Message no. 1
From: William Monroe Ashe <wma6617@******.TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Riposte for the Toxic Rules
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 11:17:55 -0600
In response to a valid point I fell I must respond;

The way I see it, Avengers are the "least" poisoned of the toxic
shamans. As such, they are the closest to a "regular" shaman. So I felt
that they should be able to do everything that a regular one could do.

But, the conjuring of a toxic spirit, is calling on the pain and
suffering of the earth, to give it form. No normal person can take that
kind of shock and not go nuts.

At least the way I see it, for a Player Character, the added power of a
toxic spirit (and they are real powerful) must be balanced out. That is
why I made it so harsh.


regards

Bill
Message no. 2
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Riposte for the Toxic Rules
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 10:55:18 -0700
William Monroe Ashe wrote:
|
| In response to a valid point I fell I must respond;
|
| The way I see it, Avengers are the "least" poisoned of the toxic
| shamans. As such, they are the closest to a "regular" shaman. So I felt
| that they should be able to do everything that a regular one could do.
|
| But, the conjuring of a toxic spirit, is calling on the pain and
| suffering of the earth, to give it form. No normal person can take that
| kind of shock and not go nuts.
|
| At least the way I see it, for a Player Character, the added power of a
| toxic spirit (and they are real powerful) must be balanced out. That is
| why I made it so harsh.

The only problem I have with it is that the character *will* go
permanently insane, unless he never summons a toxic spirit. Maybe if
you modified the focus addiction rules so that the shaman's other
abilities started suffering if he relies on toxic spirits too much
(within a certain time period, say a month). And if he backs off, he
can recover (or goes on an astral quest, or whatever).

For example, in AD&D you can give a fighter a super sword, but if he
ever roles a 1 it cuts off his head with no chance of resurection. Or,
you can give him a super sword, but every time he kills a foe with it,
the foe's ghost haunts him for a year and a day. I.e., mess with the
character, don't take him out.

-David
--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 3
From: Mike Elkins <MikeE@*********.COM>
Subject: Re: Riposte for the Toxic Rules -Reply
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 14:24:53 -0500
>The only problem I have with it is that the character *will* go permanently
>insane, unless he never summons a toxic spirit. <snip>For example, in AD&D
>you can give a fighter a super sword, but if he ever roles a 1 it cuts off his head
>with no chance of resurection. Or, you can give him a super sword, but every
>time he kills a foe with it, the foe's ghost haunts him for a year and a day. I.e.,
>mess with the character, don't take him out.

I think we disagree on the nature of toxic shaman. Is a toxic shaman ever sane?
If you volunteered to play this kind of character, you KNOW that you are playing
with forces that can become your master, not your servant. Perhaps there
should be some way for a toxic shaman to return to normalicy, but it should be
the long difficult road, and the path should not be clear to the player.

Double-Domed Mike
P.S. This mail was written using computer dictation
Message no. 4
From: David Buehrer <dbuehrer@****.ORG>
Subject: Re: Riposte for the Toxic Rules -Reply
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 13:51:03 -0700
Mike Elkins wrote:
|
| | I think we disagree on the nature of toxic shaman. Is a toxic
shaman ever sane? | If you volunteered to play this kind of character,
you KNOW that you are playing | with forces that can become your
master, not your servant. Perhaps there | should be some way for a
toxic shaman to return to normalicy, but it should be | the long
difficult road, and the path should not be clear to the player. | |

A toxic shaman is definitely not a "people person" :) And I've got no
problem with the insanity issue. I had a knee jerk reaction when I
read that the shaman would lose it in the end. Maybe my perception was
off (as Adam might say :) Now that I've thought about it I can
understand that the goal of the character is to avenge the land. He
has all the resources of a shaman, and can summon toxic spirits.
However, those toxic spirits cannot be used without cost, so he better
use them wisely. Otherwise he will pay the ultimate price of losing
himself to the same force that he seeks to destroy, as the toxins
overwhelm his mind and soul.

I just misread it the first time through. I thought the insanity
ruling was punitive.

-David

P.S. Mike, most of the time your page width is over 80 columns. Could
you trim them. Please :)

--
/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\ dbuehrer@****.org /^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\/^\
"His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking
alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free."
~~~http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1068/homepage.htm~~~~
Message no. 5
From: Midn Daniel O Fredrikson <m992148@****.NAVY.MIL>
Subject: Re: Riposte for the Toxic Rules -Reply
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 1997 16:12:46 -0500
>
> I think we disagree on the nature of toxic shaman. Is a toxic shaman ever sane?
> If you volunteered to play this kind of character, you KNOW that you are playing
> with forces that can become your master, not your servant. Perhaps there
> should be some way for a toxic shaman to return to normalicy, but it should be
> the long difficult road, and the path should not be clear to the player.

I agree. I don't think that toxic shamens would be considered sane.
After all, they are following nature totems that have been totally warped
by the influence of poisons, waste, and pollution on the earth. Just
compare Dog to Toxic Dog. Dog is protector of man. Toxic Dog is
destroyer of man. Even if the avengers are the least insane, they still
are really wacked. You could be the third cousin of the owner of a
company that made a part of a factory that was leaking pollution into the
ground water, and any avenger would see you as guilty of 'destroying
mother nature' and worthy of death IMHO. I think toxic shamens have to be
insane to summon toxic spirits. They might seem normal, but deep down
inside, they are totally bonkers... :)

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Thwap!